More like a once-in-a-forty-year snow storm That's what I'm thinking too; it's not going to happen again anytime soon. I think the only thing the GS is bother me is the ride height, but if you folks can travel 6-8 inches of snow with good snow tires with ease, then I guess the ride height is not really a problem then.

 

I see that one could have some issues, if driving an uphill road with 10-12 in of unploughed snow. Other than that I believe there should not be any issues in winter driving with the 4WD GS.
Though I have no experience of driving the 3G GS in snow, I have been driving the 2G GS (of course it's only 2WD) in all kinds of winter conditions with snow and ice. Never had any problems, as long as you remember to fit the car with proper tires (I have Blizzaks) and adapt your driving style to the winter conditions. Obviously no point trying to drive same way as in the summer.

 

Ah, then the GS AWD with real snow tires should be fine. I only tried to drive once during this winter with all seasons, and I could barely get anywhere with my 350 RWD...it would just fishtail on anything except major roads.

 

Indeed - it is rather the proper winter tires (such as the Blizzaks I have used) which work well than the all seasons.

 

Sounds like the GS AWD will work in quite deep snow then, but only with good snow tires (which I will get for certain) and careful driving. But I still have to go and get a test drive though. And there's always the GX as a second choice. Hopefully I can get a pretty big discount at the dealership!!

 

highly unlikely you will get a big discount at the dealership. lexus dealerships are notorious for not budging on prices. you may get a small discount, but don't expect to save thousands, it won't happen.

 

Yeah, unless you are willing to buy a demo, its really hard to get a good deal. Maybe sign up for a Car Cost Canada account and offer them 1k above invoice and go from there. However, I doubt any would accept that...but you never know (they probably make 2-4k per sale at least). When I bought mine at JP Lexus, they were desperate to get rid of the last 07 GS.

 

It looks like the 2010 models are coming, and they have the 09 models piled up in the lots, maybe some 08 models as well. If I can get a 5% discount off the retail price, is that too much to ask for?

 

No clue, but if you get the invoice price (what they paid for it)...then you can just negotiate how much they should earn on the car. However, as I said, it is usually quite a bit.
I doubt many GSs are on the lots...they order maybe one or two per dealer every couple of months if needed here in Vancouver.

 

For that much snow there is no way any sedan will be able to handle that much snow. Go get an SUV not a sedan and make sure its a big SUV with ground clearance

 

agreed, i tried that when i bought my GS; i showed my salesman from CCC the invoice price of the GS. he wouldn't budge, saying they can't discount that deep. it's either take it or leave it. they will discount the car more deeply if they can't sell it.

 

I have owned both Lexus in the pass, and I live in New England, we often get 6+ inches of snow in a storm. The GX is a monster in the snow, the GS, even with AWD do not even come close. I have driven thru 2 and a half feet of snow with the GX and it did not miss a beat. The AWD center diff lock really helps and there is a low range for exteme conditions. The GS simply do not have the ground clearance, its ok for 6 inches of snow or so, and that depends on what kind of snow it is.

 

Knowing where the OP lives (quite close), I would say if that amount of snowfall actually piled up...there would be a state of emergency and roads would be closed anyways. So the GS AWD should be fine with the proper tires and a shoveled driveway. Use the difference between the GS and GX to buy an old Pathfinder or something that you don't have to worry about if you hit something or get stuck.
No need to buy an SUV when you only use its AWD and height for 15 days of the year.

 

Guys, I live close by too. I saw last winter SUVs just sliding sideways, backwards etc... on our hills. It doesnt matter if you have 2 4 or 8 wheel drive(for the sake of argument). What's important is center of gravity in this case. Deep snow, flat - hands down SUV is better, otherwise GS AWD with winter tires is just great.
As a matter of fact I was stupid enough (again last winter) and drove my SUV and what happended? - I stopped on the way up on the hill and started sliding like a cow... long story short I hit the curb....

 

No doubt GX is better in truly deep snow than GS. I thought the question is nonetheless, whether GS AWD can handle normal wintery conditions including quite heavy snowfall. As long as the ground clearance is sufficient, new powder snow should not make driving too bad at all. If there is deepish wet snow the rather wide tires of GS make it s bit more difficult to drive, but an AWD GS should still do ok.

Unless, if akfd lives along a private road, which is not ploughed or even driven through by others, the GS AWD should do the job. Even a RWD car is ok most of the time in winter as log as it is fitted with excellent winter tires. In Northern Europe Mercedes C and E class are probably the most common taxis (there are quite a many Volvos as well). The Mercedes are 99% as RWD (diesel) versions. The majority of them are equipped with non-studded winter tires for the winter months.

Btw, are studded tires legal in BC? For the icy roads they would provide a far superior grip. On snow, however, non-studded tires are very comparable.